On Thursday 6th November 2025, I made a speech in support of QLD teachers rejecting the enterprise bargaining offer
Transcript:
While gas corporations get our gas for next to nothing, make billions exporting it and pay no tax - it is frankly disgraceful. Disgraceful. For kids at our public schools to get anything other than world-standard education. But that’s what Labor and the Liberals want you to accept. For years they’ve let massive corporations pay no tax, while chronically underfunding our schooling system. Well, Queensland teachers aren’t accepting it. They’ve just voted against a pathetically weak enterprise bargaining offer from the Queensland state government. They’re fighting for a better deal for all our kids.
Our amazing teachers are doing incredible jobs. But they’re hamstrung. They are massively overworked - working weekends and on holidays to prep their classes, do marking, and burdensome admin. Class sizes are too big. Too many schools are overcrowded. Teachers are having to use their own money to pay for basics like stationary. There’s next to no support for classes with kids with behavioural issues or for teachers experiencing workplace violence. And on top of all this, teachers are not being paid enough for the work they do. No wonder there’s a teacher shortage. No wonder there’s major teacher burnout. Solidarity to the teachers who aren’t settling for substandard deals. 67% of teachers in the Queensland Teachers Union just voted no to the State Government’s recent ‘best and final’ offer. These teachers want a real pay rise - above inflation. But more than that, they want real change in their industry. These teachers know that there’s no shortcut to educating the next generation. There’s no AI bandaid. There’s no standardised testing system that will deliver better results. There’s no little rule change to fix behavioural issues. There’s no shortcut. But that’s exactly what the major parties always look for. Because they don’t want to tax huge corporations like the gas multinationals.
Raising the next generation of people to become wonderful, flourishing individuals and community members - that takes actually investing in what matters. Better conditions and pay for teachers - reduce after hours work to a minimum. Smaller class sizes - Finland has average class sizes of 19, while our teachers struggle trying to educate 30 kids at a time. Free breakfast and lunch programs at all schools - so no kid tries to learn on an empty stomach. Dignified, readily available public housing for anyone who needs it - so every kid has a secure place to call home.
The only reason. The only reason Labor and the Liberals don’t do this, is because they think multinational gas corporations are more important than our teachers and our kids.